New Bedford Bay Sox sink Schooners 4-2

Filling in for right fielder Josh Smith, who tweaked his back making a second-inning throw to third base, LaVorgna snapped a 1-1 tie with a run-scoring single in the seventh inning as the New Bedford Bay Sox defeated the visiting Mystic Schooners 4-2 in New England Collegiate Baseball League action Thursday night.

LaVorgna’s single to right drove in Walker Moses with the go-ahead run, and the Sox added another run in the seventh and one more in the eighth to pull away and improve to 9-26.

Mystic fell to 18-15.

LaVorgna had been away from the team for a few days to attend the funeral of a close friend and was not in the starting lineup Thursday. The early injury to Smith allowed LaVorgna to get four at-bats and he went 2-for-4 with the big RBI single.

He came into the game hitting .097.

“I had to go home because my best friend passed away,” said LaVorgna, who is from North Haven, Connecticut, and attends Franklin Pierce. “Josh got hurt and Skip told me to get ready.”

Skip is manager Rick Miller, who called upon the right-handed LaVorgna over Arizona State outfielder Cullen O’Dwyer because a left-hander was on the mound for the Schooners.

“He came through for us and I’m glad to see it,” Miller said. “His good friend died and (LaVorgna) has been gone since Sunday.”

After LaVorgna’s single off relief pitcher Louis Concato made it 2-1, O’Dwyer came off the bench and contributed a RBI groundout that extended the New Bedford lead to 3-1.

Bay Sox reliever Scott Tully (Notre Dame) was outstanding, striking out the side in order in the eighth, and the Sox made it 4-1 in the bottom of the eighth when Lorenzo Papa (Broward) drove home Michael Gilbert (Southern Mississippi) with a single to right.

Mystic added an unearned run in the ninth off closer Dan Wertz (Sacred Heart), who notched his fifth save.

LaVorgna, along with Moses, Chris Travers and Gilbert, finished with two hits.

“You go through slumps and in a league like this, you might only get 100 AB’s or so,” LaVorgna said. “I struggled early and I started to press a little. It was tough for me being home, but I was able to get a little breather from the game.”

Brandon Cook (Broward) got the start for New Bedford and went 6 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and striking out five. He got a no-decision.